August odds and ends

Here are just a few random, yet memorable, things from August. It's now 11/17 and I started this in 08/16, so I'll just post it. :)

We went to Liberty Park with Kristal and Ashlyn. Kids had fun on the boats and ghetto amusement rides. ;)

It's what fun is. For the most part.

Two days after school started we pulled them out for the Guard's Lagoon day. (Yes, we are really big on school attendance, as you can imagine.)

The most important part of the ENTIRE DAY is that Mike FINALLY agreed to do the wild west pictures. As geeky as it sounds, I've wanted to have these type of pictures done for as long as I can remember. It was so much fun. Sarah begged to have more taken and even offered to pay, but Mike figured dressing up once a year was enough. (Next year Sarah)

First Day of School

Two days after Lake Powell the kids started a new year of school. It was Sarah's 5th elementary school, (Hayden Peak, Columbus, Altus, Hayden Peak, Foothills, Providence Hall) Steven's 4th and Adam's 1st. :)

I was worried Adam would struggle with being at school all day, but he hasn't minded so far. He likes his teacher and eating lunch at school. I walk the kids to school and they meet up and walk home. I love having them at a nearby elementary school.

Sarah has Mrs. Hardy, Steven has Mrs. Humbert and Adam has Mrs. Perry. They wouldn't let students/parents in to take pictures on the first day so I have no idea what they look like, but I'm sure it will be a great year. :)

Lake Powell

The weekend before school we escaped to Lake Powell with my parents. Like always, it was a ton of fun. My parents keep their big boat docked and brought down their ski boat for us to play on. Mike and I have very little experience piloting boats, but we pretended to, so we could take off on it. Our first day there we arrived in the late afternoon, so we just hung out and set up. My dad took the kids out on the kayak

. 

On day two we started out by going water skiing. Last year Sarah was insistent on trying it even though all we had was an adult slalom ski. She tried half a dozen times even if she had little chance of getting up. This year we had kid skis so she tried again. She got up a couple times, but couldn't stay up. The same with Steven. Mike got up and showed them how it was done. ;)

After the kids tried skiing they decided to switch to what they can never get enough of. Tubing. I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids, or Mike. Both days he  managed to make them fly off the tubes so they would boycott him pulling them and insisted I drive. :) Adam also left me a couple selfies to enjoy. :)

We found a great beach to camp at. There was a little family of ducks that would come beg for food. The kids nicknamed one the "Jerk Duck", because it would always try and chase the other ducks away. The kids also spent a considerable amount of time lizard hunting. Steven caught a couple and they made a little habitat in the cage we brought. 

We went water skiing again and my dad and I went first. I never realized what a complete wuss I'd become. Last year I didn't go outside the wake because I was behind a big boat. This year I didn't because of wussitis. I would have been fine if I had two skies on, but with one I was really timid. Mike kept starting and stopping filming me because he was, "waiting for me to do something cool." (At least I can get up on one ski) ;) My dad went after and killed it like always. 

We really wanted the kids to try skiing again, so we bribed them. Sarah would get the next book in a new series she's reading (The Land of Stories) and Steven would get a cap gun. Steven went first and after a couple tries he got up and stayed up for quite a while. Sarah was determined to get that book so she got up and stayed up after only her second try. Once they got up they were little pros. 

Our first day there I offered to put Sarah's hair in corn braids. She gratefully declined. I finally talked her into it our second to last day and she of course loved them. It makes hair so much easier. :)

On Sunday we attended church at the local branch. When I was a teenager we went a couple times while on vacation but there wasn't a chapel. The one they built is the smallest I've been in yet it looks like every other chapel. The service was great. There are only five members in the ward but there were 40-50 people in the congregation. I love that no matter where we go, the church is the same. 

We had a great trip this year and look forward to many more in the years to come. (Does that sound too cheesy) ;)

Hike up Timpanogos

Mike took the whole week of Lake Powell off so we decided to do something neither of us had done, but wanted to. Hike Mount Timpanogos. There are two main routes people can take. The Timpooneke route starts in American Fork canyon at a campground. It's ~7.5 miles each way.  The Aspen Grove way is on the east side of the mountain and is ~8.3 miles each way. We thought it might be the more scenic route, and thought we were in good shape, so we chose the Aspen Grove. It definitely was beautiful, but it was hard. The last two miles on the way up and down were pretty rough. BUT, we finished it. I think we'll do the Timpooneke side next time. Here are some of the highlights.